Descent Into The Dark
by NukeRose
Summary: Takes place a couple of hundred years after the fall of the One Sith in the Expanded Universe. In which a Jedi from Earth falls to the Dark Side, and rises to Lead the New Sith. In which an alliance is formed that changes the course of the future. [PLEASE REVIEW!]


_**Descent into the Dark Side.**_

_**AU: Takes place centuries after the death of Cade Skywalker. In which the One Sith fell, and went into hiding on Korriban while the rest of the galaxy counted them as dead. In which one of the few Jedi from Earth falls to the dark side and rises to lead a New Sith Order with results that shock the galaxy to its core, but not for the reason you would think. **_

Upon the loss of his brother and wife at the Battle of Durellia, Jedi Master Axl Richardson sunk into a deep depression, which lasted for months before turning into pure vengeful rage. After searching for months, the forty five year old Jedi struck down the General who had ordered the attack that had killed his brother and wife.

In the General's possession was a Sith Holocron. He had recognized it immediately; it looked just like the numerous examples held under lock and key in the Holocron Vault thousands of feet below the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. Master Richardson felt himself drawn to the small red pyramid. Also on the shelf was a small silver and black cylinder that he recognized as the hilt of a lightsaber, as well as a small red crystal, which he recognized as a focusing crystal. He collected them and withdrew to his ship, _The Marauder's Gambit_, and sat and stared at the three items. He picked up the lightsaber and flicked the switch on. The crimson blade materialized with a distinct snap-hiss. He deactivated the weapon and picked up the Holocron and opened it. He could feel its pull, and allowed himself to draw upon the power it offered. It was intoxicating.

Quickly becoming drunk with the power of the dark side, he replaced his emerald crystal in his lightsaber with the new crimson one and grabbed the lightsaber he had found inside and reentered the base. His intent was to look for more artifacts, until somebody shot at him. Calling upon the dark side for the first time, he slaughtered every enemy troop in the base, before bringing the building down with the Force.

Terrified by what he had done, he sent word to his sons, and his best friend and brother in law, Jedi Master Rorrik Skywalker that he would not be returning to Coruscant. Instead, he went to the Sith Sector to search out a Master to apprentice himself to. He vowed that, while he would learn to use the dark side, he would not lose his humanity. He searched the temples of Ziost, and found nothing but ruins that radiated darkness and were guarded by bodies reanimated by ancient Sith Alchemy. He searched the dark jungles of Dromund Kaas, but found nothing.

It was not until he landed on the ancient Sith tomb world of Korriban a month later that he found what he was looking for. Almost as soon as he landed in the Valley of the Dark Lords he was accosted by several black robed figures with red lightsabers. He quickly dispatched all but one of them. The one he didn't kill was a Gungan, who never even bothered to draw his lightsaber. He just stood off to the side, watching with interest. Axl sensed no danger from him so he deactivated his lightsaber and waited.

"I am Korranis. Dark Lord of the Sith." The Gungan introduced himself, rather happily, without the typical Gungan accent Axl was used to, "I sense much anger in you, and I sense you are searching for something."

Axl stared at him in suspicion.

"You are searching for us. The Sith?" Korranis asked and Axl nodded. "Well you've come to the right place. Welcome to Korriban."

He held out his hand for Axl to shake. Axl just stared at it. He reached out with his senses, and Korranis allowed the probe to pass through his mental defenses as a sign of good intentions and good faith. When Axl was satisfied that he meant no harm, he shook his hand. Korranis took him in and trained him as his apprentice.

During the five year apprenticeship, Axl excelled and Korranis treated him like a brother, or even a son. Korranis nurtured Axl's connection to the Dark Side, while at the same time making sure he was grounded with a strict moral code. He was never cruel, he was never viscous, and he was never sadistic. He became good friends with his student. Soon after the apprenticeship started, the pair set out across Korriban to explore the planet thoroughly. They discovered a very small colony of three hundred pureblood Sith living in the southern Polar regions, where the Sith Leadership had deemed it a waste of time to explore. They discovered the tombs of several long forgotten Sith Lords, as well as countless priceless Holocrons from which both Master and Apprentice learned long lost and forgotten Sith techniques that left them unrivaled in skill and power.

Soon after, they left Korriban and travelled extensively. They visited every world in the Sith Sector. They visited the collapsing ruin that was once the private fortress of Lord Vader on Vjun. They deemed it futile to try and get inside, since the Galactic Alliance under Daala had cleaned the place of all its valuables and laid waste to it. The centuries of neglect and Vjun's perpetual acid rain didn't do the ancient building any favors. The final place the pair went was a complete surprise when they arrived.

Axl had felt a large, continuous disturbance in the Force. It nearly made him faint from its intensity, and he felt extremely sick for a whole day. It was the kind of reaction one could only get when billions of lives were wiped from existence over the matter of a few hours. He could pinpoint an approximate location, located far into the uncharted expanses of the Unknown Regions.

They were a month into their search for the source of the disturbance, when they happened upon something unexpected.

They were sitting in the cockpit of the Marauder's Gambit. Axl was asleep, and Korranis was pouring over an ancient holopad that they had recovered from the tombs they had found on Dromund Kaas the day before they felt the disturbance. He looked up and was surprised to see what looked like an extremely, almost ridiculously primitive deep space exploration probe. It was large, had antennas sticking out of the sides, and a large round dish on the front.

"Hey," He exclaimed, flicking his leg out to jolt him awake, "What do you make of this?"

Axl blinked a couple of times, before focusing on what he was seeing. His eyes widened in shock.

"No fucking way." He whispered. "That..."

He recognized it. From a long buried memory, from before he left his home world when he was twenty one. Out of a school textbook.

"That's Voyager 1." Axl exclaimed in shock.

"What is it?" Korranis asked.

"Space probe from my home world. It was launched to explore the system I was born in, about eighteen years before I was born. They taught us about it in school." Axl remembered.

"Do you think that's where the disturbance came from?"

"I hope not. That kind of disturbance can only be caused by death, and lots of it. Are the sensors picking up anything?"

"Short range, no. Long range sensors are detecting very faint transmissions. Tracking them to the source, and homing in on its location. Entering hyperspace."

They were in hyperspace for two days before they came out at their destination.

Axl looked at the planet as they entered orbit, and his stomach dropped.

"That's it. That's Earth."

However, the once blue marble was no more.

The vast continents, once a variety of green, grey and yellow, were now stained brown. The clouds the streaked the atmosphere were a dark murky brown. The vast oceans were tinted green

"I left when I was twenty one. When I left, there were cities that rivaled an early Coruscant, tropical rainforests that could rival Felucia. It's only been thirty years. And look at the state of it now. The place is ruined. What does the transmission say?" Axl asked.

"It's a text warning, in a primitive language. The ship's translation circuits have succeeded in translating. It is to all incoming craft. It basically says that tensions between a nation called North Korea, and another called the United States of America, had boiled over and it triggered a nuclear war that consumed the planet. Scans for life are indicating that there are pockets of survivors all over the planet. Something in the order of a billion human survivors. Mother of mercy. I thought the Republic banned nuclear weapons something like five thousand years ago." Korranis said.

"Earth was never part of the Republic. When the Republic formed, the human species on Earth were still living in caves. When the Jedi arrived when I was twenty one, we had already had them for seventy years. We refused their invitation of membership in the Republic, but a select few of us who were Force sensitive were allowed to accompany the Jedi back to Coruscant to learn the ways of the Force. The Republic was smart enough not to try to invade the planet to disarm it. One nuke has the power to rip a hole in one of the Republic's Dreadnought Class Star Destroyers. Even the strongest shields couldn't withstand it. The Earth had thousands of the things in storage. They had the power to destroy most of the Republic Navy."

Axl started to feel nauseous as he looked down upon th dead remains of his home world.

"Let's get out of here. Enter its coordinates in the ship's computer and save it. I will be coming back soon. I want to talk to some of the survivors, see what they can tell me. Plus, the other planets in this system may have valuable resources on them. Mars is cover with rust; we might be able to harvest that for iron ore."

They travelled back to Korriban where Axl completed his training. He ascended to the rank of Sith Lord. At this point Axl Richardson ceased to exist.

He took the mantle of Vadonous, Dark Lord of the Sith.

He spent 5 years as a Lord before he got sick of the cruelty and brutality of his superiors. He walked into the Sith Emperor's chambers in the Sith Academy while he slept. He drew his lightsaber and beheaded the Emperor before he woke up. He walked into the Sith Academy's main atrium and hefted the head into the air, proclaiming himself the new leader of the Sith Order. The rest of the order knew it would be foolish to challenge him, so they bowed before him. Vadonous's first act was to dissolve the position of Emperor, since there was no Empire to rule over. The next thing he did was spend ten years molding the order to his own design, with Korranis at his side as his second in command.

He started sending his forces out on missions again.

One mission in particular changed the course of history.

Vadonous had dispatched his finest Inquisitors on a mission to finally disable the slave markets on Tatooine. They returned with a slave in tow. They had rescued him from the slave pens. He was in critical condition, and upon arrival on Korriban he was immediately whisked off to the medical center. When Vadonous arrived to check on their guest he was shocked at what he found. The boy was only twelve years old, and he was terrified, but most importantly he was familiar. He gave the medical staff strict instructions to return him to perfect health, with a warning that if he died, so would they.

Finally, a month later, after 20 years of molding the Sith into an order that could be respected by the common being instead of feared, Vadonous returned to Coruscant, with the boy in tow. He landed at the Jedi Temple around noon. He walked into the Chambers of the Jedi Council midsession with the boy right behind him, both wearing a thick cloak and hood. Nobody would know their identities until they lowered the hoods. The chamber went silent. The first person to rise was the one in the Grand Master's chair. Vadonous was only slightly surprised to see that it was his former best friend, Rorrik Skywalker, who rose. He had one hand on his lightsaber while his other stroked his beard. Vadonous smirked fondly at his old friend and took advantage of the silence.

"I do humbly request audience with this esteemed body." Vadonous said silkily, following formal etiquette that had been drilled into his head when he first arrived at the temple after leaving Earth.

"Who is it, may I ask, that comes before us on this day to request audience with us?" Rorrik said cautiously.

"I cannot say, without assurances that I will remain unharmed." Vadonous said.

"Why is that?" One of the other masters demanded, rather rudely. Vadonous rolled his eyes in disgust.

"Some people have no manners, seriously. People tend to have an adverse reaction to the revelation of my identity. Several times it has almost resulted in a grisly death. That is my one condition." Vadonous explained.

"You have my word, then. If any of this council tries to perpetrate harm upon your person, they will face swift consequences at my hand." Rorrik assured. Vadonous nodded, knowing that his old friend was a man of his word. Thick silence blanketed the chamber as the council awaited the revelation of his identity.

"I am Vadonous. I am The Supreme High Dark Lord of the Sith, and Leader of the Order of the Sith Lords." Vadonous uttered.

The first thing that he heard was the distinct snap-hiss of a lightsaber igniting. Rorrik held out his hand and pulled it from its owner's hands using the Force. As soon as the green blade was in his hands, he deactivated it. Rorrik shot its owner a look of supreme displeasure, before returning his piercing gaze to Vadonous.

"Why have you come here? To a place where few Sith have ever dared to tread for thousands of years. More importantly, why shouldn't I kill you now where you stand? We were under the happy impression that the Sith had been destroyed when the One Sith were defeated." Rorrik growled.

"After the defeat of the One Sith, the remaining members fled back to Korriban. When I arrived there, the Order was on the verge of collapse. It currently operates out of the Sith Academy in the Valley of the Dark Lords, which I tell you as a gesture of good faith. As for reasons to my survival, I will give you two." Vadonous said.

"Please do." Rorrik growled.

"First, Grand Master Skywalker, I request the presence of any Jedi with the last name 'Richardson' to be present at this meeting." Vadonous finished.

"They are already here. The one I pulled the lightsaber from is one of them. His brothers are sitting on either side." Rorrik explained, shooting a glare towards the brothers.

"First, I am unarmed. It is against the Jedi Code to kill unarmed opponents. Second, Grand Master is that I bring you quite a large gift, in the form of my companion here." Vadonous said, pointing to his cloaked companion, "He is one of your former padawans. He was discovered a month ago by my Inquisitors when they had been sent to destroy the slave markets on Tatooine. When he arrived on Korriban he was little more than a shell. With quite a bit of medical treatment, he was restored to full health."

Vadonous motion for him to lower his hood. He did so, and the council gasped in astonishment. Rorrik nearly collapsed.

"As my gift, I return to you, Master Skywalker, your son John." Vadonous said softly.

Rorrik lunged forward and wrapped to young boy in a tight embrace. John clung to his father and wept. They stood in their embrace for ten minutes before Rorrik picked up his son and walked him over to where the Richardson brothers were.

"Stand with your cousins, I have some questions for him. We'll talk later." Rorrik whispered to the boy, who immediately embraced his cousins. "Okay, Lord Vadonous, you have my attention."

"Over the past fifteen years, the Order of the Sith have undergone many changes, which I dragged them through kicking and screaming. While we still embrace the seductive power of the Dark Side, we do not use it toward the same purpose the Sith of the past have. We use both sides of the force equally, balancing our dark powers with Light Side powers and techniques. That and we have absolutely no desire to control the galaxy. I personally find I would have no patience for it. We only wish to improve it."

"How have you stayed grounded? The One Sith under Krayt, the Sith under Sidious and Vader, the Sith under Bane, and the ancient Sith Empire before that all succumbed to their lust for power. How have you avoided that which plagued the Sith for millennia?" Rorrik questioned.

"Before I fell to the Dark Side, I had a strict code of conduct and morals that I refused to abandon, and my Master nurtured that. This is what allows me to rule the Order and mold it into an organization that can be respected. I have spent fifteen years doing just that. This is why I stand before you to propose something unprecedented. An alliance. An alliance between the Jedi and the Sith." Vadonous said.

Silence. Rorrik stared at Vadonous in open curiosity.

"Give me one reason why I should trust you." Rorrik demanded evenly.

Vadonous smirked under his cloak.

'Ask and you shall receive." He thought to himself, as he finally lowered his hood. Rorrik gasped and staggered back in gaping shock as an older Axl Richardson stared back at him with glowing eyes the color of molten gold.

"Because, it's me. My old friend." Vadonous said softly.

"Dad?"

Vadonous turned to look upon his sons for the first time in twenty years. He bowed to them.

"We'll talk after the meeting." Vadonous assured them.

Rorrik stared into the eyes of his long missing best friend.

"You fell to the dark side? How? How'd it happen?"

"Durellia. When I disappeared after Kailey and my brother were killed, I tracked down the bastard responsible. I slaughtered him. He had a Holocron and an ancient Sith Lightsaber in his possession. I took them back to my ship and opened the Holocron. The power was intoxicating, and I lost control. I brought the whole building down with the Force. When I left, I went in search of the Sith. I finally found them on Korriban and I apprenticed to my Master. A Gungan named Korranis. He was a very unorthodox Sith, because he was very kind. He treated me like a son. Eventually I rose to lead them. And you know as well as I do, my old friend, that I can be trusted."

Rorrik stared at him for a moment, before stepping forward and shakily embracing him. Vadonous returned the embrace with a smile.

"Proposal accepted. I m-missed you so much, my b-brother." Rorrik said, emotionally.

"As did I, brother."

For the first time in millennia, the Orders of the Jedi and the Sith stood, side by side, as brother.


End file.
